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Two Israelis who have been held captive in Gaza for nearly a decade are set to return home as part of the latest hostage deal — Avera Mengistu, who will be released after 3,821 days in captivity, and Hisham al-Sayed, who has been held for 3,595 days.
For Mengistu’s family, the news brings an end to more than 10 years of uncertainty. “We are overwhelmed with emotions,” said Gil Elias, 48, a relative who has led efforts to bring Mengistu home. He said that Mengistu’s mother, Agarnesh, received the long-awaited phone call confirming his release. “His parents, siblings, and the entire family will be there to welcome him. These are joyous and surprising news that we have been waiting for over a decade,” Elias told Ynet.
“I believe he’s okay. If he has survived all these years, he must have found a way to endure,” Elias added. “Maybe when someone is taken out of their comfort zone, they discover strengths they never knew they had. We don’t know for sure — but we will soon. We just want him back.”
Years of waiting and uncertainty
Mengistu, a man with mental health issues, crossed into Gaza on Sept. 7, 2014. His family has fought for years to prove he did not enter of his own free will. “At first, people didn’t understand what we were saying. They told us, ‘It’s your problem, he went on his own,’” Elias recalled last month, when reports surfaced that Mengistu had been included in the first phase of the hostage deal. “It was hard to explain the situation and the military failure that allowed it to happen.”
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In the family’s living room in Ashkelon, a photo of Mengistu from a Hamas-released video sits at the center of the room. “As time went by, many assumed he was no longer alive, but I always believed he was,” Elias said. Last May, the family received another confirmation that Mengistu was still alive. “We know his mental and physical health are in terrible condition, but we don’t know exactly what state he will be in when he returns,” Elias said at the time.
Hisham al-Sayed’s family: ‘A decade of waiting’
Al-Sayed, a Bedouin resident of southern Israel, was born on Feb. 15, 1988. Just three days ago, he marked his 37th birthday in captivity — his ninth in Gaza since he crossed the border on April 21, 2015.
“Hisham will be home after 3,595 days — almost a decade of waiting,” his family said in a statement. “But the news of his release will not feel complete until every hostage returns. This deal must not stop. No one should endure a decade in captivity.”
The last proof of life his family received was in 2022 when Hamas released a video showing him in Gaza, connected to an oxygen mask. “Seeing that footage didn’t give us hope — it just told us he was still alive,” his father said.
Since the October 7 Hamas terror attack, al-Sayed’s father has found himself supporting families who are now experiencing the same pain he has lived with for nearly a decade. “We met Ethiopian families, families of soldiers — it didn’t feel like there were any differences between us,” he said. “After October 7, the number of hostages was overwhelming. It took me two weeks just to process what had happened. We try to support as many families as we can, regardless of politics. This is about bringing people home.”